This book is the moving autobiography of a young Chinese girl, Adeline Yen Mah. Born the fifth child to an affluent Chinese family, her life begins tragically. Adeline’s mother died shortly after her birth due to complications brought on by the delivery. Adeline's family labels her "bad luck," causing her to grow up with the guilt that she alone is responsible for her mother's death. This situation is compounded by her father’s new marriage to a lady who has little affection for her husband’s five children. She displayed overt antagonism and distrust towards all of the children, particularly Adeline, while favoring her own younger son and daughter born soon after the marriage. She is denied carfare, frequently forgotten at school at the end of the day, and whipped for daring to attend a classmate's birthday party against Niang's (her stepmother) wishes. The book outlines Adeline’s struggle to find a place where she feels she belongs. Denied love from her parents, she finds some solace in relationships with her grandfather Ye Ye, and her Aunt Baba, but they are taken from her. Adeline immerses herself in striving for academic achievement in the hope of winning favor, but also for its own rewards as she finds great pleasure in words and scholarly success. Even though Wu Mei is repeatedly moved up to grades above those of her peers, it is only when she wins an international play-writing contest in high school that her father finally takes notice and grants her wish to attend college in England. Despite her parent's heartbreaking neglect, she eventually becomes a doctor and realizes her dream of being a writer.
This memoir asks readers to think about the powerful themes of courage, family and relationships, loneliness and abandonment, and self-esteem. Other concepts to challenge the students are friends versus enemies, challenges and triumphs, war and peace, the strength of the individual in society, and the question of right versus wrong. Through Adeline Yen Mah's story, readers will witness the harsh realities of abuse and realize that there is hope even in situations that seem to have no good outcome.
Teens, with their passionate convictions and strong sense of fair play, will be immediately enveloped in the gross injustice of Adeline Yen Mah's story. Included in the book is a complete glossary, historical notes on the state of Chinese society and politics during Yen Mah's childhood, and the legend of the original Chinese Cinderella which all help to bring about this stirring testimony to the strength of human character and the power of education. This is a great book to use in an interdisciplinary unit with Social Studies because there is so much to learn about Chinese Culture as you read this text. I thought this book would be difficult to handle for the students, depending on their maturity level, because it deals with a lot of emotions that they may not be able to understand. However, I think it is a very good way to expose the students to this kind of culture and show them the history of China. I think that it brings history to life and to a level that it can be appreciated by readers because it is the true story of the author.